390 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



pass, and efi'ccled by this cheap way of draining, 

 a complete change in the color, lexture and 

 product oJ' the land. This land when dr ined 

 produced ei<;ht barrels ol corn, its product belbre 

 had been three. This operation is performed by 

 the ploutrh. I cannot but ihmk that these lands 

 are well suiied lo grass, and have been surprised 

 to see no ariiHcial crrasses here, and only a lew 

 small meadows oC natural grass. 



Minerals have not been found in this part ofthe 

 county. All the earths Irom which the ingenuity 

 of man has moulded pois and pans atiound here, 

 (and I niaiie no doubt porcelain among them,) 

 with wood as cheap as could be asked ; and yet 

 there is but one pottery in all ihe county. VVe 

 have no manufactures. 1 have not yet seen a 

 grist mill or a blacksmiths shop. Petersburg 

 supplies us with every thing. 



GRADED HILL-SIDE DITCHES. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



In the February number of the Register, p. 88, 

 1 find an article headed "Scraps ot farmers' con- 

 versation, by (he editor." The conversation of 

 Mr. Old I propose to notice. He is opposed to 

 the system of graded hiil-side ditches as a pre- 

 ventive to the washing of the land in heavy falls 

 of rain, because they will not effect the object 

 desired — that on a hill-side having several ditches, 

 if the one near the top should treak, the quantity 

 of water thereby increased in the next, together 

 with the force with which it would descend, the 

 second would break, and, lor the same reason, all 

 the rest -, consequently more injury would be done 

 to the land ihati if they had not been made. He 

 gives an instance of one ol his ditches, that he 

 had been so particular with as to attend to in per- 

 son, having been broken by the lodgment of a 

 few blades of fodder, which seems to be conclusive 

 that the system was a bad one. If Mr. Old had 

 given the grade and depth of his ditches, we 

 should have been belter able to form an opinion 

 whether he had given the plan a (air trial or not; 

 but we are left in the dark in these particulars, as 

 well as to the distai ce between them and the 

 manner his rows were laid off; whether in checks 

 up and down the hill, or drills parallel with the 

 ditches, or horizontally. For the last ten years I 

 have practised thesystem of graded hill-side ditch- 

 es, accompanied with the horizontal cultivation, 

 as I believe with great success in preventing my 

 land from washing. I must, therefore, ask leave 

 to ditfisr with Mr. Old. If our fields were perfect 

 inclined planes, it would be a very easy matter to 

 60 run our rows as for each to bear off its own 

 water so gently as not materially to wash the land. 

 This, however, being far from the case, the ques- 

 tion is, the best protection under the circumstances 

 of the many undulations that we find in even a 

 small field. It is the practice of many farmers 

 in this section of Georgia to put in the necessary 

 number of ditches and lay off their rows parallel 

 with those ditches and cultivate the crop in drills. 

 The argument for this practice is, that the rows, 

 having the same grade of the ditches, will mainly 

 bear off their own water. They forget that the 

 natural undulations will very soon vary the grade, 

 in I'act change the direction ol" the water in dif- 



ferent points of the row ; it is therelbre embodied 

 and presses its way down the hill to the ditch be- ^ 

 low, drives across that and materially injures the 

 land. The rea^■on for the imperfection of ihia 

 system is obvious. In one part of the field the 

 hill may be very abrupt, at another less so, and 

 at another still less. A ditch passing across all 

 these various declinations, ascending the hollow 

 on one side and descendini; it on the other lo the 

 natural eye, but by the instrument keeping the 

 same grade. Now it is very easy to perceive, 

 that in a parallel of thirty feet from the ditch, you 

 would lose your grade, lor the reason, that the 

 fall, supposing the parallel on the lower side of 

 the ditch, would be much greater where the hill 

 was very abrupt, than where it was less than 

 half as mucii so. Therefore the parallel row 

 would be many inches out of the grade of the 

 ditch at the steep part ofthe hill, and as compared 

 with the ditch where the land was less abrupt. 

 Hence the water would be thrown into bodies by 

 this method of operation, to say nothing of the 

 many smaller undulations, almost imperceptible to 

 the eye, producing the same efi'ect. And when 

 once sufficiently embodied, the volume continues 

 to increase, and it soon defies obstruction. 



It cannot be difficult lor any one who has ever 

 used a level to comprehend the force of this rea- 

 soning. It has been observed, that if fields were 

 perlect inclined planes, it would be a very easy 

 matter to have each row pass off its own water. 

 Now the horizontal rows form an inclined plane 

 taking the rows together. True the direction of 

 the plane is changed as olten as the direction of the 

 level changes, nevertheless the same grade is 

 preserved, measuring from the top of one bed to 

 the top ofthe other ; therefore the direction ofthe 

 plane is changed as ot'ten as you have undulations 

 in the land. Your level being perlect, of course 

 your inclined plane is perfect, and when you have 

 such a tall ol water as to overrun your water-fur- 

 rows, it iai as apt to break over on a ridge as in a 

 valley ; lor the rows being level, the water re- 

 mains where it fell — the inclined plane being per- 

 fect, the water passes over in a kind of sheet, un- 

 til received by the ditch below, and by it borne off. 

 To keep your level perfect, short rows will occur 

 between your guide furrows; because where the 

 land is most abrupt, the guide futrows will be 

 nearer together than where it is less so, by running 

 rows about parallel with the guide rows the place 

 for the short rows will be indicated by the filling 

 of the space where the land is most abrupt ; the 

 remaining space will then be to fill with short 

 rows by the judgment of the operator. 



But to the ditches. A field that is intended to 

 be ditched should be sown in small grain, in order 

 to havp as smooth a surli^ce to operate on as pos- 

 sible. The ditches should be from 75 to 150 yards 

 apart, regulated in their distance apart by the fall 

 of' the land, and ihe ability of the soil lo absorb 

 water. In fields laying comparatively well, in 

 many cases three or four ditches are sufficient for 

 a field ol' fifty acres, of which the operator must 

 be the judge. The grade may be regulated by 

 the ability of the soil to absorb water, giving 

 greater fall on clay lands, and less on sandy porous 

 soils. For land having averaire ability to absorb 

 water, my grade is three inches to twelve feet, in- 

 creased or diminished a quarter ot an inch, as the 

 soil is more or less capable lo absorb water. The 



